Pubdate: Sat, 25 Apr 2015
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Paula McCooey
Page: A6

NEW CEO TO EDUCATE PATIENTS ON CANNABIS

A former Health Canada manager who helped Canadians navigate the
sometimes hazy world of medical marijuana access has been appointed
CEO of an emerging company that educates patients on its use.

Gulwant Bajwa, 53, has taken on the lead role at National Access
Cannabis (NAC), an alternative treatment care centre that first opened
in Victoria with new locations slated to open across the country this
year. The company will open its first Ottawa location in Hintonburg in
June.

During Bajwa's four years working with Health Canada's medical
marijuana program, he investigated its impact on patients suffering
with ailments such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and cancer.

"I heard dozens of powerful accounts from patients who reported that
they could finally sleep again - medical cannabis was the only thing
that gave them the pain relief they needed," said Bajwa, who is
himself a cancer survivor.

While Bajwa wants the public to understand the benefits of medical
marijuana use for certain people, he also wants to emphasize one
point: National Access Cannabis is not a dispensary, but rather a
health and education centre.

He stresses treatment is not as simple as smoking a joint and feeling
symptoms melt away. He says if the cannabis is not accessed through a
licensed producer, which guarantees organic product, the user may
expose themselves to pesticides that may aggravate rather than relieve
certain symptoms. And, like a pharmacy, NAC tracks patient medications
to ensure they use the correct dose and strain of cannabis that will
complement, rather than adversely affect, their treatment program.
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MAP posted-by: Matt